Unsettled Summer Reads

A distinctly “Unsettled” summer reading list, crowdsourced from our very own community.

1.     The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving A F*ck” by Sarah Knight. “Bloody excellent! I read it the week before I quit my job and booked my Unsettled trip to Bali. It’s filled with proper advice on how to send toxic relationships, jobs and colleagues to a very special place called fuckland. I recommend this to every Unsettled alumni because even though we all have had our month abroad in whatever country with these legends, aren’t we all still getting used to the idea adding a slice of Unsettled in our routine life? This will help you navigate through the uneasiness and the doubt. –Shitika

2.     The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky. “Don’t question, just pick it up. If you put it down before the first chapter ends, I will buy you a hotdog.” –Lexi

3.     Tales of the Unexpected” by Roald Dahl. “This book requires no long-term commitment or arduous ceremony, there is no deadline or defined path of continuity. It is the perfect companion for any unsettled/settled person.” –Chan

4.     Travels with Charley: In Search of America” by John Steinbeck. “A wonderful travel read offering deep reflections on society that are even more interesting 50+ years after it was written!” –Jonathan

5.     Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris “A series of short essays that will have you peeing your pants laughing and commiserating with the challenges of navigating a new country and learning a new language.” –Liza

6.     An Embarrassment of Mangoes” by Ann Vanderhoof. “About a couple who decide to sail the Caribbean for a couple years…the adventures of living on a boat and surviving storms, the different cultures of each island and all the different food! Each chapter has a Caribbean recipe. It’s awesome and will make you want to sail the Caribbean.” –Jeanna

7.    “The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of WWII” by Irish Chang. “It is not a light read, and it is quite shocking but for those that enjoy WWII history, this account of the Japanese invasion of Nanking is something you won’t forget.” –Erin

8.     Like a VirginandThe Virgin Way” by Richard Branson. “His attitude to business and ESPECIALLY people management is just awesome. I’m incredibly inspired by his ability to build such strong businesses in a time where staff wellbeing was overlooked in the interest of profits.” –Mickey

9.     The Underground Railroad” by Colson Whitehead. “Should be read by those looking for a book with a language that flows so easily that is almost disguises the horrors of the story, a book with characters that can be good and bad and horrible and disgusting, but never less than human….If anything it’s an experiment in storytelling; an alternate history so close to our own that it can be hard to tell which parts are true to history and which parts aren’t. In short, it’s a masterpiece.” –Camilla

10.   Modern Romance” by Aziz Ansari. If there are any single, confused millenials here, “Modern Romance” is all the LOLs. Great beach read, and it’ll answers a lot of questions about dating in 2017 and why it’s SO FUCKED UP.” –Shitika

11.   A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini. Heartbreaking, inspired by true events story – it focuses on female characters and their roles in the Afghan cultures – it’s definitely a MUST read – it is by far a BEAUTIFUL novel, one of my favorites.” –Aya

12.   Chapter One: You Have the Power to Change Stuff” by Daniel Flynn. “A great read that might just make you cry while also providing fresh drinking water to someone without it.” –Robert

13.   “The Time Traveler´s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger. “A constant mind-f*ck about how we perceive time, relationships, and fate.” –Jon

14.   Balilicious” by Becky Wicks. “I happened to pick up a copy of Balilicious by Becky Wicks the night before my flight to Unsettled: Bali. She wrote of her adventures in Bali trying to ‘find herself’ and the parallels with my own experiences there were amusing and uncanny. She’s also a friend of an Unsettler who was in my group!” –Faith

15.   The Woman in the Dunes” by Kobo Abe. “Abe creates an interesting metaphor for life in modern society that casts a dark light on what we’re willing to submit ourselves to.” –Eugene

Happy reading!

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